Sciatica or Piriformis Syndrome - Which is It?

A large amount of confusion and misunderstanding exists concerning the conditions sciatica and piriformis syndrome. There are some who insist that the two conditions are actually the same thing, but even though they can have symptoms that are very much alike, the underlying causes differ.

As well as using exercises in order to provide you with natural sciatica relief from the pain, a person may want to try using certain essential oils as well. These include certain properties within them which are ideal for treating the various symptoms and helping to relieve the pain a person will feel when suffering from sciatica. Ricky runs a back pain relief website. Visit his site today for more information on the latest back pain and morphine pumps.

But since the most effective treatment for the two conditions varies signficantly, it is important to determine the correct diagnosis if at all possible. In most cases there is an easy way to distinguish between sciatica and piriformis syndrome.

The problem is that sciatica is a set of symptoms rather than it actually being a diagnosis in itself. Therefore before it can be treated using either traditional prescribed medications or natural ones, a doctor will need to carry out various tests in order to give the correct diagnosis.

Sciatica is one type of back pain affecting a large number of people these days. It is characterized by pain in the hip and buttock region and sometime includes referred pain down the leg. This can go down one or both legs into the thigh, calf, ankle and foot. Stretching is often prescribed for back pain and sciatica but rarely provides any lasting relief .

Sciatica refers to irritation of the sciatic (often mis-spelled as syatic or psyatic) nerve, that arises from nerve roots in the lumbar spine. The most common cause of sciatic nerve irritation, or "true" sciatica is compression of one or more of its component nerve roots due to disc herniation or spinal degeneration in the lower lumbar region. Sciatica usually begins in the buttock area and, depending on the severity of the underlying nerve comression and inflammation, may extend down the entire leg to the ankle and foot.

Normally when sciataca has been diagnosed by a doctor they will either provide their patient with anti-inflammatory drugs to treat it. However if the condition has become so severe then the only way in which it may well be treated is through the use of surgery. But occasionally a doctor will try other forms of treatment such as manipulation of the spine, massage or physical therapy and will only resort to using surgery if all other recommended courses of treatment fail.

About the Author:

Dr. George Best is in private practice in San Antonio, Texas. For more information, check out Dr. Best's free e-book and online video course to assist in understanding and treating sciatica and piriformis syndrome, including in-depth instruction on sciatica exercises at http://www.SciaticaSelfCare.com .

Suffering from sciatica can be quite irritating and it is definitely something that you don't want to allow happing. Here are a few tips that will help you get relief from your sciatic pains.

If their posture is wrong when they are sitting and standing, unfortunately doing the exercises will provide the person with only a small amount of relief from the condition. It is important that when using these exercises a person should be carrying them out twice a day and should only be doing them under the supervision of an expert such as a fitness instructor.

Medication The medicines you take should all be prescribed to you if over the counter, if not, still ask your doctor all about the Tylenol you take. If it has to many milligrams in it or if it is too strong your doctor will let you know. When you first start seeing your new doctor you should always take your medicines with you to talk to him and let him know what you are taking. There are some medicines you may be taking that cause you to want to sleep and then there are some that will cause you to want to be lazy and when you are needing to exercise you need to be energetic and not have any involvement in medicines that will make you drowsy.

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Food and sleep for relief There are types of food that you can eat that will help you to get healthy a lot faster than regular foods such as peanut butter. This is a great type of food to get a spoonful of a day; it keeps you going and helps your metabolism. Any nutritious food is good for you, especially if it has vitamins in it. Also, if you want to get to feel better fast and need Sciatica Nerve Relief, sleep will usually give you a great boost there is no better Sciatica Nerve relief giver. Sciatica just makes you very tired and makes you feel unable to exercise, which is not healthy and will not help you to get any better nor fix your nerves any time sooner.

Doctor If you want to get sciatica nerve relief, then the best thing to would be to go to your doctor and ask him or her what you should do, and why aren't your exercises working. When you go to your doctor make sure to inform him or her of all the medications you have been taking or that you have taken in the past. This may have something to do with how your body responds to your treatments you are using to get your Sciatica Nerve Relief. There is no better way to find out what could possibly be causing you not to respond to your treatments than to consult with your doctor.

Be active If you are suffering from sciatica then it will make you want to lie down and cause you not to be active at all. However, research has shown that if you are lying down or you're not active at all then the pain will just get worse. Push yourself to be active every day, even if it is just something like walking for 20 minutes or just stretching you muscles a bit. One of the best ways that will give you relief from your sciatic pain is with exercises and you will be amazed how much better you'll feel after doing a few exercises every day. However, be sure to know which ones to do as it could also cause you more harm if done incorrectly.

The problem with sciataca is that once the muscles in the back become weak they will be unable to support the back correctly and this in turn will increase the amount of pain that the person is feeling. But as well as carrying out these exercises, a person will need to look at the way they sit and stand.

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Piriformis syndrome, also known as "pseudo-sciatica" (meaning "false sciatica"), is actually referral pain and other symptoms (tingling, numbness, etc.) caused by tightness and knots of contraction in the piriformis muscle, which runs from the upper femur bone to the edge of the sacrum, the triangular pelvic bone that is below the lumbar spine. The symptoms of piriformis syndrome are very similar and may be indistinguishable from true sciatica.

Eat Healthy - Vitamins and minerals are important for your overall health. So, try to eat as much healthy food as possible to help get rid of stress in your body and get relief from back pain.

It is important to distinguish between sciatica and piriformis syndrome, because the treatment for the conditions varies, and getting the diagnosis right typically leads to more effective treatment.

In some cases, piriformis syndrome may cause true sciatic nerve irritation, as the sciatic nerve may run underneath or even through the middle of the piriformis, so contraction of the piriformis may produce sufficient compression of the sciatic nerve to produce actual nerve symptoms. This is one of the main sources of confusion when it comes to distinguishing true sciatica from piriformis syndrome.

There are various back pain relief measures both natural and pharmaceutical available. Chronic and severe back pain may require temporary medication to allow the acute back pain to settle. However if you take a natural healing approach along with the medication, you should get a better longer lasting result.

Massage - Massage a common choice for people trying to get relief from back pain. It also acts as great stress reliever. But if you have acute back pain, do consult a skilled back pain therapist before going for a massage.

When it comes to trying to find the best natural sciatica relief treatment, it is important that people understand just what it is. Too often people will get sciataca muddled up with other medical conditions.

As mentioned earlier, the symptoms of true sciatica are very similar to piriformis syndrome. Both cause pain, tingling, burning, "electrical shock" sensations, and/or numbness down the leg, often all the way to the foot. In addition, both sciatica and piriformis syndrome tend to be at least partially related to biomechanical functional problems in the joints of the back and pelvis and they may even be present simultaneously in the same person, so it an be difficult to tell them apart.

The second maneuver is done in two parts. First, from the sitting position one bends the leg and pulls the knee on the painful side towards the same-side shoulder. In all but the most severe cases, there is usually no major increase in pain in this position. The second part of the maneuver is to pull the knee toward the opposite side shoulder. An increase in the sciatica-like symptoms is a strong indication of piriformis syndrome.

Two simple maneuvers will distinguish sciatica from piriformis syndrome in the majority of cases (when the problem is one versus the other and not both conditions at the same time). First, in a seated position, if one straightens the leg on the painful side (so that the leg is parallel to the floor), and the sciatica symptoms increase, this is usually a sign of true sciatic nerve irritation.

Some natural steps for back pain relief are: Lose Weight - Try to stay slim. If you have excess weight on your upper body, it will overload on your back. Practicing yoga or tai chi are natural ways of back pain treatment that can also assist with weight loss.

Yes it is important that a person does rest for a couple of days after the symptoms have appeared but after this they should take up some form of light exercise. Preferably they should be looking to do exercises which will help to strengthen and stretch the muscles in their back.

Back pain is caused by numerous reasons, primarily muscle imbalances from injury, diet, obesity, posture, exercise and more. Back pain treatments vary depending on the diagnosis of your pain and can vary from a passive mobilization, to drugs all the way to surgery .

However there are more natural ways in which a person can treat this condition without them having to resort to using medications which can have other side effects. Although a lot of doctors will recommend that their patients take as much bed rest as possible, in a lot of cases this can actually make the condition worse rather than helping to alleviate the symptoms.

There are certain other techniques like yoga, exercise, massage acupuncture and chiropractic that prove to be effective back pain treatments for some sufferers. Others prefer to take medication prescribed by their doctor to lessen the irritation of back pain but they are not good for health. Adopting the natural approach to get back pain relief is therefore considered to be the most sensible approach to take if you can find someone skilled enough to do the job.

Back pain is a major problem these days for people all over the western world. It has been estimated that at any one time 20% of the population suffer from lower back pain and that doesn't take into account all the other forms like sciatica, upper back pain, mid back pain and neck pain. It is a huge interruption in a sufferers day to day life and costs the world billions of dollars in productivity.

About the Author:

The author has helped many people to get sciatic nerve relief. Discover how you can get rid of sciatic nerve pain by visiting SciaticNervePains.com

Learn More about Natural Sciatica Back Pain Treatments

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